The problem, says Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, is that the estimate is based on a series of assumptions aimed at making people “believe that much of cross-border investing is all about tax evasion and that all this money should go to government, and that this would be a good thing.” The real problem facing governments, Mitchell says, is spending not revenues.

I also was part of this CNN report.

A few things about this interview are worth highlighting.

1. First, it’s a bit disappointing that CNN even bothered to cover this non-story. This is akin to me pulling numbers out of the air, claiming that tax reform cures cancer, and then having Fox News report my make-believe nonsense simply because some of the programming is conservative.

It’s also rather revealing that they referred to the Tax Justice Network merely as an “advocacy group” rather than revealing that they have a hard-left orientation. I don’t object to Cato being identified as “libertarian-leaning,” but why not also let viewers know that the cranks at TJN also have a point of view?

2. Now let’s shift to policy. The second thing worth noting is that Mr. Henry says (around the 2:23 mark) that it would be good for politicians to get their grubby hands on cross-border investment capital so it can be “put to use.”

This is a remarkably radical and misguided assertion, as you can see from this chart. Henry is basically saying that money should be diverted from private capital markets, where it funds wage-boosting investment, in order to facilitate higher spending by politicians who already have spent their nations into fiscal crisis.

3. Even though I wasn’t given credit for the comment, I’m glad that the reporter (at the 2:38 mark) noted my argument that the real problem is that many nations have class-warfare tax systems that penalize work, saving, and investment.

This is why, when I give speeches in the so-called tax havens, I frequently say that they should be worried about “onshore” nations adopting the flat tax. Sadly, there’s no short-run possibility of replacing the corrupt tax system in America, so places like Singapore, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands don’t have to worry about competitive pressure from the United States.

If they succeed in crippling tax competition and setting up some sort of global network of tax police, more politicians will raise tax rates, causing more misery, and bringing more nations one step closer to Greek-style fiscal collapse.

President Obama recently got himself in a bit of hot water with his “you didn’t build that” remark, which trivialized the hard work of entrepreneurs.

But he is right – in a perverse way – about government playing a big role in the life of small businesses. Thanks to a maze of regulations, the government is an unwelcome silent partner for every entrepreneur. And we’re not talking small numbers.

But sometimes an image helps to make things easy to understand. Here’s a chart from the Joint Economic Committee, which maps out the web of regulation imposed by Washington.

This chart does more than just show sources of red tape coming from Washington. It shows that “Washington” is really several entities, such as Congress, the executive branch, the courts, and so-called regulatory agencies.

These varies entities then impose regulatory burdens in various fields, such as labor, finance, tax, and environment.

Keep in mind, by the way, that each small pink circle actually represents an entire field of regulation. So when you see, for instance, the “Obamacare” circle, what you’re really seeing is this nightmarish image of regulatory complexity.

And don’t forget the role of state and local government.

Last but not least, remember that each regulatory bureaucracy is then capable of making individual decisions that…well, you judge for yourself.